Howard
Stern recently signed a five-year deal to continue his radio career with Sirius
XM. The deal, Stern has said, happened because the company will make
significant investment into video capability for his show. Stern envisions a “virtual
world” for his listeners and watchers.
Sirius
XM’s overall programming offerings may also morph into video, company executives
have hinted. It’s unclear what an expanded entertainment service from Sirius XM
– for Stern or any other programs – may actually look like, and whether it will
be fed through an app. There also has not been any indication so far about
whether the cost of Sirius XM service may increase, and by how much.
Meanwhile,
Anthony Cumia, who was fired from the “Opie & Anthony” show on Sirius XM in
summer 2014, has since begun his own paid video podcast network, available
online, as a smartphone app, and also on Roku video boxes, for $6.95 a month,
or less for six-month commitments.
These
changes raise a big question for radio or podcast format entertainers and
hosts. Is the addition of video worthwhile both artistically and financially?
In Cumia’s case, is making his show primarily video format enough of an
incentive to get subscribers at his asking price? Especially when Hulu,
Netflix, Amazon Prime and others, with wide ranges of programs (including a lot
of talk shows, in Hulu’s case) and large content libraries, are at a monthly
price point that is close to $7, or not much more than that.
Stern
has a bigger fan base and higher profile than Cumia, but faces a similar issue
if the cost of an expanded video and virtual content offering drives up the
asking price of Sirius XM service. In the case of Stern and Sirius, this is
mitigated by the presence of other content as part of the service, including
content that presumably will be similarly upgraded. The other question with
Sirius and Stern, however, is that at about $14.99 a month, its programming
offering is still rooted in audio-only fare, such as music channels and talk
and interview shows, and its distribution channel (specialized car radios and
an app) is more limited than that of Netflix – if the result is that Sirius XM
really does become a Netflix competitor in the process of the planned changes.
The
paid model now being used by former broadcasters such as Stern and Cumia
differs from what most popular podcasters use, a sponsorship-based model that
is closer to traditional terrestrial radio. The most popular podcasts are split
between those by former broadcasters such as Adam Carolla – or current
broadcasters providing expanded versions of their shows on podcasts – like Jesse
Thorn or Ira Glass – and comedians turned hosts, like Marc Maron and Chris
Hardwick. The free, sponsor-supported podcast model seems even less likely to
support video or virtual expansion – but the audio-only nature of its
programming may be what makes its appeal so strong.
